You Told Me
by PoisonXLilly
Summary: You told me to believe in myself, Onii-sama. But how can I do that when your dead, I'm weak, and he's out there to kill me?
1. OniiSama

You told me that our father was scum for putting us through this. You said it with so much seriousness, quite unlike your normal gentle and caring nature. But then you also told me that, no matter how dumb our father was, you would still fight.

But why?

You could have just hid away, I told you. But you would be a coward. A disgrace to our family and you couldn't let _him_ win. You had seen what _he_ had done to that family, that innocent family who hadn't committed that crime. They were framed, but _he_ acted like they were the scum. You tried to defend them, but it was a hopeless fight. He had set you up to act like a fool, and the family died right before your eyes. And you couldn't do a damn thing about it.

You know what is right and fair. Onii-sama, I respect you and I have always looked up to you. You know what should be done, and when to stop fighting an enemy. Rarely you have fought someone and took their life…

But you should have **killed** _him_! I was the worthless scum who couldn't even begin to dream about mastering bankai. You were still training, weren't you? So why, why couldn't you have used it on him? You could have finished him off! **Why did you protect me?**

But why am I worthless scum? Because I couldn't protect you. I wasn't strong enough. That's why you came with me to train, wasn't it? You were acting kind and humble, but in fact, you thought I'd be killed first-hand. You were worried about me. And you trained with me because you knew my limits, and also what I could aim at. You pushed me and it always seemed you had time for me. But why didn't you train yourself? You could have mastered bankai quickly, found_ him_ quickly, and killed _him_ quickly.

You would have been a wonderful captain. The first true, just, and kind captain we've seen in a long time.

You shouldn't have stepped in to defend me, to block his attack. You were stronger than me, so I should have defended you, sacrificed myself…

I'm weak. That's all I'll ever be, and that's all I ever will be. Nothing will change, and I'll never be a true soul reaper. I only recently learned my zanpakuto's name. And even then, you helped me. I can't do anything on my own. I'm weak and worthless, and I am truly the scum.

But…!

You kept telling me to never give up. To believe in myself and train as hard as I could. Anyone can do it. If anyone can do that, then we'd all be perfect, right? Everyone believes in themselves right from the start, right?

Wrong. We all think that we can't do anything, but then someone comes in and says "You can do it!" and they start to believe in themselves. Why? Because they have someone out there that's cheering them on and someone who thinks they can do great in life.

But that won't help if you know you're weak and there is no one out there now that believes in you.

Why?

Because you are **dead**. _He_ killed you, and soon I will be killed along with you, by his hands. Your dream will never be fulfilled. You always said you wanted to see me become strong. But now you can't, because you sacrificed yourself to save me, even though I know I'm **worthless!**

So why? Why did you protect me? I can never believe in myself now that you're gone. I'm weak.

You told me that our father was scum for putting us through this. You're wrong.

_**I**_ am the scum.

**(A/N: Oh! A Bleach fanfic? With original characters? Yes? Yes. Let the adventure begin…) **


	2. Tomo & Aya

That was it, then. I buried his body and now I would die. I had a bad wound in my side and it hurt like hell. All I could do was drag myself through this stupid forest. Who knew what lurked here?

Sighing, I sat down on a largo rock and looked around. Where was I? I had gotten lost, running aimlessly though this forest. I was running away from him, the man who had killed my brother. I couldn't do anything about it, either. I kicked my sword aside, and instantly regretted it. Jumping up and yelping, I grabbed my now sore foot and rubbed it, scowling at the forest around me. The thought came back to me again and I wondered what lived here…

Suddenly, as if whatever lurked here could read minds, I heard a shuffling of leaves and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Who's there?" I shouted, sounding a little nervous. Did _he_ leave the forest yet? Was _he_ so cruel as to pretend to leave, and then track down his prey…me? I narrowed my eyes, but then stopped, realizing I couldn't do anything even if it was him. What could **I** do?

"Ah!" A girls voice replied back, totally shocking me. "I thought you were…never mind! Haha, I'm Tomo!" A girl, looking around my age, popped out of the bushes and greeted me, sticking her hand out toward me.

Her large brown eyes looked a little bit enthusiastic. What if I was the enemy? Her large bushy pigtails, sticking out of the side of her head, held her mouse-brown hair. The girl looked very excited in seeing me. Who exactly was she…?

Tomo looked worried, and then she grinned at me. "Oh, haha! I'm sorry! Did I scare you, popping out like that? Haha, how about this?" Tomo had a more serene look on her face as she bowed down.

I blinked, tilting my head a bit. "I…I'm Amane. And where exactly…?"

"Oh, me and my brother have set up camp a little ways over there!" Tomo pointed a little ways to the right of her. "C'mon, I'll take you there!" She grabbed my hand and yanked me toward where she pointed.

Ugh, great. Now where would I end up? What kind of girl was this Tomo and…did she say…brother?

00000

A few minutes later, after Tomo dragged me though the woods in an almost hyper and eager way, we arrived at her 'camp'. It wasn't much, to say the least. In fact, it was just a poorly set-up tent with a small little fire.

Sitting next to the fire, cooking…something, was a man who looked a lot older than me and Tomo. He had a dirty robe on with bright, long red hair, tied in a pony behind his head.

He looked up as he saw Tomo and I enter and he greeted us with a friendly smile.

"Why, hello. Welcome back Tomo. I see you caught something rather interesting…Can we eat it?" The man spoke in a deep and soothing voice. Chuckling at his joke, he stood up and bowed.

"Hey, Aya! I'm back and I brought supper!" Tomo replied, giggling. I glanced over at her and gave her a confused look. What the hell were they talking about?

Tomo glanced over at me and giggled again, placing her hand over her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry, hehe! Aya here is my brother!" She looked over at Aya and pointed at me. "This is Amane. I found her in the woods. It looks like she has a really bad wound in her side. Could you use your special healing powers and clean it up? It looks like it's been cut for a while, and by a sword."

Woah, she could tell Aya all that? And she hadn't even looked at the wound! I hadn't even told her about! How could she have known all that?

Aya chuckled. "Tomo, I'm not that good at healing wounds, you know that." He looked over at me and gave me another warm smile. "Come here; let me take a look…"

I narrowed my eyes at him. How could I trust him? I had no idea who he was and I had no idea what they were doing here. For all I knew, they could be poison experts and they could be working for the man that killed my brother. For all I knew, they could poison me with whatever they had and…

As if he knew what I was thinking, he chuckled. "You can trust me, don't worry."

Still narrowing me eyes, and limped over to him and plopped myself down on the ground. Glaring at the ground, I waited for him to do something.

Aya placed his hands on my left side and poked it, rubbing his thumb at random places. Suddenly, I let out a yelp as he finally touched my wound.

"Ah, there it is. It doesn't seem too deep…I'll have it cleaned up in no time, alright? Here, Tomo, get her to drink some of this…" Aya leaned over and handed Tomo a clear small bottle with a stopper in place at the top.

Tomo took it from her brother, took out the stopper and placed her hand on the bottom of my chin. Lifting up my head, she told me to open my mouth and then tilted the glass bottle, draining the liquid in my mouth.

It was surprisingly cold, and it tasted really sweet. What was it?

"It'll help with the wound, don't worry. My brother is an expert at healing! He can heal almost anything, it so cool! That one time, he met this lady who-" Tomo explained, getting excited and talking way to fast. Luckily, Aya interrupted her.

"Tomo, please. This girl is scared enough. Who knows what kind of person did this to her? Right, Miss. Amane?"

I closed my eyes and tilted my head away from them. I couldn't let them see me cry. I was already showing them I was weak, I couldn't let them see I was a physical and emotion wreak from watching my beloved brother die right before my eyes. I knew who had inflicted the wounds in my side. _They_ didn't need to know.

Sensing my hurt, Aya spoke to me in a soft and comforting tone. "Everything's alright with us. Don't worry. We won't let anything hurt you, alright? If you want to tell us if something's bothering you, we'd be happy to hear. If not, that's fine. You can stay with us as long as you like."

I nodded and opened my eyes. He sounded nice, but it would take some getting used to. These people looked strange, but they seemed nice. But suddenly I thought of that man again, and I shuddered. What if I got them hurt if I stayed with them for too long? It would be _my_ fault. I didn't need more people becoming victims in this stupid game set up by my stupid father. I didn't even consider that man my brother, he was so horrible. He had killed his own brother and wounded me, all because of this! He would pay. I would be the one to hunt him down and destroy him!

I just need to train and get my zanpakuto stronger. I wonder how long that's gonna take. I rolled my eyes and gave a weak chuckled, letting Aya heal my wound.

**(A/N: Yay! I finished chapter 2! I hope everyone likes it! I'm on a small vacation at the moment, so updates are slow. Anyway, please review!)**


	3. Real Strength Pt 1

"And swing your sword like…That! Yes, exactly! You got it covered, Amane!" Aya grinned at me, swinging his sword over his shoulder.

I looked back at him and smiled. I was actually enjoying this training. We had been doing this for some time now. For the past few days, ever since they found me, they wanted to train with me, to get me stronger. I loved this time with them. I was getting used to their company. This was almost like the training sessions with my brother…

"Amane! Hey, Amane-san! That was amazing! You almost seriously had my brother, there!" Tomo praised me, sitting on a nearby rock. She had this huge grin on her face, and for a moment, I felt like they were a part of my family…

Getting flustered over being praised so much, I nodded at each of them and then walked over to Aya. I bowed, showing my respect and thanks to him.

"Nah, you don't have to bow," Aya smiled and patted my head. "You were really great back there. You're really getting the hang of this. I can't wait to practice with you with your real strength."

Smiling hesitantly, I nodded and we started walking back to the camp.

"_Sister, you have to swing your sword like this," Brother demonstrated the move to me, and I tried to copy it. I had finally been able to call out my sword's name, and now I was using my real strength. "You have to use all your arm strength, and don't be afraid of the fire! It can't hurt you!"_

_My sword was set ablaze, and I was slightly shocked at the power in contained. When I had first used this new power, I had instantly dropped my sword in fear of being set in flames myself. But thanks to my brother, I had finally gained confidence to try and master this._

_Swinging my sword and using every ounce of strength I could, I swung it toward my brother, who was ready to block it. We were only training, so it didn't matter that he would actually block it._

_Suddenly, I heard a loud cry of pain, and a shark crack that might have come from a sword. Instantly bringing back my sword and trying to stop the flames coming from it, I glanced back at my brother to see what had happened._

_He was lying crouched on the ground, holding his right shoulder with his left hand, his sword on the ground. From here, it looked like a large crack had seriously messed it up._

_Abandoning my sword, I rushed to my brother to see if he was critically injured. His shoulder was bleeding badly, and his clothes around his shoulder area looked burnt to a crisp. I could even smell burning flesh._

"_Brother! Onii-sama!" I cried out, tears rushing down my face. How could I have hurt him? Was my power too much? "Please tell me your okay! Brother!"_

_Suddenly, I felt a hand grasp my arm. It was my brother. He was looking up at me and he was…smiling._

"_Wow, Amane-san. That…that was amazing. That truly was your real strength…"_

_I shook my head, laughing. My brother was going to be fine. He was already standing up, and he reached his uninjured arm toward me._

_Taking it, I stood up and hugged him. "I'm so sorry, Brother…" Tears were running down my face again, but I was just glad my brother was okay…_

00000

The camp was actually turning out to look pretty good. We had fixed it up to make it more livable, and I helped Tomo with the cooking and cleaning. It was the least I could do after all they've done for me.

I looked over at Aya, who was busy making a meal out of whatever he could find in his knapsack. Suddenly, I wondered why we were even living in the forest. I hadn't really bothered to ask. It just seemed like a personal question at the time. But now, I figured, we were getting along really well. Even Tomo was calling me by my first name. (I had only given them my first name, so I guess it's just as well.)

Walking over to him and sitting down next to him, I opened my mouth and spoke.

"Hey, Aya? Is it okay if I ask you why were always in the forest? Don't you guys have a house or something?"

Aya looked surprised for a second, then chuckled. "I was wondering when you'd ask me that…Tomo, she wants to know why were in the forest. Care to explain?"

Tomo glanced up at him, her face a mixture of shock and fear. Turning away, she shook her head. For a second, it looked like she was about to burst into tears…What was going on?

Aya sighed. "I guess I have to explain…Very well, then." He looked at me full in the face and started to explain.

"I guess it all started when we became official Soul Reapers. Every time we would go out on missions, we would always be greeted by a family, and then sent off with warm smiles by them. We really took a liking to them. They were always so kind to us. 'Come back safely!' they'd say. Or 'Hurry up and defeat those Hallows!'. It didn't matter what they said. They were always kind, loving, and caring. We didn't really have a family at the time, and it was always nice seeing people outside of Soul Reapers who really appreciated everything we did, and also supported us. I guess it was just a silent agreement when Tomo and I started to care for them in return, in case anything bad every happened to them. And then one day, they were convicted for something they hadn't done, and were sentenced to death…"

**(A/N: As if from nowhere, a chapter update. I hope you enjoy this one. I was worried that it might be too short, but this will have to do. Does anyone remember the family mentioned for a brief second in chapter one? Hehehe…)**


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